The perfect combination of sweetness and tang, these Red Velvet Donuts will be devoured as soon as you make them! In addition to being delicious, they’re gluten free, egg free, nut free and easily dairy free (vegan).
These red velvet donuts are a dream! The frosting is sweet and balances out the slight tang of the donut! If you want even more tang, check out my cream cheese frosting. Or, you can also use a different frosting all together like in my Strawberry Red Velvet Cake!
For more red velvet recipes, try my Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cookies, Red Velvet Whoopie Pies and Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Muffins.
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Ingredient Notes
- Red Velvet- What makes red velvet special? Is it just chocolate cake with red food coloring? No, it’s more than just that. In addition to a small amount of cocoa powder, red velvet contains buttermilk and white vinegar. Those things help give it that tang that we know so well like in my 4th of July Cookies.
- Vegan Buttermilk- Measure out one cup of milk of your choice and add one tablespoon of white vinegar into that milk. Stir it and let it sit for 5-10 min on the counter. After it has sat, stir it again and you’ll notice it appears chunky. That’s perfectly normal and supposed to happen. This is your vegan buttermilk. It’s now ready to be added to our recipe like we do in our Red Velvet Loaf Cake.
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
How to Make this Vegan
- Use vegan baking sticks instead of butter!
- Use a non dairy milk of choice.
- Use gluten free flour that doesn’t contain dairy.
This recipe has not been tested with these substitutions and/or variations due to celiac disease and food allergies. If you change any of the ingredients, please let us know how the recipe turned out in the comments below!
How to Make Red Velvet Donuts
Here are the step by step instructions to make these donuts!
Step 1: Preheat the Oven and Grease the Pan
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the wells of two donut pans with vegetable oil. If you don’t have two pans you’ll have to cook the donuts in multiple batches.
Step 2: Make the Homemade Buttermilk
Measure out one cup of milk of choice. Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to the milk and mix with a spoon. Set aside.
Step 3: Make the Cornstarch Water
In a medium bowl, using a spoon, mix together the cornstarch and water until thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first. Set aside.
Step 4: Whisk the Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Step 5: Heat the Butter
In a medium microwave safe bowl, heat the butter or vegan baking stick in 20 second increments until fully melted. Add in the cornstarch water mixture. Make sure to remix if it gets thick and tacky again.
Step 6: Add in the Buttermilk
Using a spoon, stir the milk and vinegar mixture. It will appear chunky and that’s normal. Add this to the bowl with the melted butter and cornstarch water mixture.
Step 7: Add Vanilla, Vinegar and Red Food Coloring
Add in the vanilla, additional teaspoon of white vinegar and the red food coloring. Whisk to combine.
Step 8: Mix the Wet and Dry Ingredients
Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry. Use a whisk to combine but if you notice it getting thick, use a spatula.
Step 9: Pipe into the Pan and Bake
Next scoop the batter into a pastry bag or a zip top bag and cut a corner off and pipe into the donut pans, filling them almost all the way full.
Bake for about 15 min until the donuts kind of spring back at you when gently touched.
Remove the donuts from the oven, wait about 2-3 minutes and they should come out easily by using a small spatula. Let them cool completely before frosting.
For the Frosting
Step 1: Mix the Ingredients
Combine all the ingredients, except the ripped up donut, in a bowl using a spatula. The frosting will be thicker than normal donut icing because it needs to stand up to the donut crumbs.
Step 2: Rip Apart a Donut
Take one cooled donut and rip apart with your hands or roughly chop into tiny crumbs. I feel it works best when you rip. Place the crumbs on a flat plate.
Step 3: Frost and Sprinkle Crumbs
Use a butter knife to frost the donut. Once it is frosted, immediately sprinkle crumbs onto the frosting. Serve and enjoy!!!
Expert Baking Tips
- Make the buttermilk first- It takes about 5 to 10 minutes to make it. Mixing it first ensures it will be ready when you get to the wet ingredients.
- Mix the wet ingredients- Melt the butter and add in the wet ingredients, one at a time.
- Transfer the batter into a pastry or zip top bag- If using a zip top bag, snip the corner off and pipe the batter into the greased donut pans almost to the top. Bake the donuts for 15 minutes or until the tops spring back at you when carefully touched.
Give me all the donuts!
Please? Ok. That was a little more polite but seriously, I could eat half a dozen donuts and still want more!
Anyway, these Red Velvet Donuts are super delish, gluten free, nut free, egg free and easily dairy free (vegan). You’ll be whipping up another batch of these beauties in no time! Enjoy!
Other Donut Recipes You'll Love
Did you try this recipe? Please leave me a ⭐ review below!
Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @laneandgreyfare and follow along on Pinterest, Facebook and YouTube! Enjoy!!!
📖 Recipe
Red Velvet Donuts
Ingredients
For the Donuts:
- 1.5 cups gluten free flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder I filled the ⅓ cup with half Dutch cocoa powder and the rest with Dark cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk of choice mixed with 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 4 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with 6 tablespoons of water
- ½ stick 4 tablespoons unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, melted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon liquid red food coloring I use McCormick (If you’re using red gel or paste you will probably only need 1 teaspoon of red total)
For the Frosting:
- 1.5 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter or vegan baking stick softened
- 1-2 tablespoons room temperature water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch of salt
- 1 baked red velvet donut ripped or chopped into tiny crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the wells of two donut pans with vegetable oil. If you don’t have two pans you’ll have to cook the donuts in multiple batches.
- Measure out one cup of milk of choice. Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to the milk and mix with a spoon. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, using a spoon, mix together the cornstarch and water until thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium microwave safe bowl, heat the butter or vegan baking stick in 20 second increments until fully melted. Add in the cornstarch water mixture. Make sure to remix if it gets thick and tacky again.
- Using a spoon, stir the milk and vinegar mixture. It will appear chunky and that’s normal. Add this to the bowl with the melted butter and cornstarch water mixture.
- Add in the vanilla, additional teaspoon of white vinegar and the red food coloring. Whisk to combine.
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry. Use a whisk to combine but if you notice it getting thick, use a spatula.
- Next scoop the batter into a pastry bag or a zip top bag and cut a corner off and pipe into the donut pans, filling them almost all the way full.
- Bake for about 15 min until the donuts kind of spring back at you when gently touched.
- Remove the donuts from the oven, wait about 2-3 minutes and they should come out easily by using a small spatula. Let them cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting: Combine all the ingredients, except the ripped up donut, in a bowl using a spatula. The frosting will be thicker than normal donut icing because it needs to stand up to the donut crumbs.
- Take one cooled donut and rip apart with your hands or roughly chop into tiny crumbs. I feel it works best when you rip. Place the crumbs on a flat plate.
- Use a butter knife to frost the donut. Once it is frosted, immediately sprinkle crumbs onto the frosting. Serve and enjoy!!!
Nutrition
This recipe is adapted from Wilton's Red Velvet Donuts.
Meg says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made them for Valentines day and it turned out amazing, very moist you don't even need eggs!
Dan Spicer says
I used your recipe but changed it to a sugar free donut . Fantastic flavor and color in the donuts. I’m so hooked on your recipes ty ty ty
LuAnn says
In addition to omitting the sugar, did you add anything else?
Lee says
Hi LuAnn! I spoke with Dan and he said he replaced the sugar in the recipe with monk fruit sugar with a 1 to 1 ratio. I hope this helps!
Nicole says
Delicious! Perfect chocolate flavor but with a little something different from the buttermilk. Donuts baked up light and fluffy. Amazing texture for being gf and egg free!
Lee says
Thanks so much!!!!
john says
I usually don't go nuts for donuts, but for these I have to make an exception.